Olive Gardens Alfrado sauce

[nicole]

here you go kitchenelf.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch salt
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 12-ounce box fettuccine pasta
(or your choice of pasta)

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.
2. Add the garlic, cream, pepper and salt, and bring mixture to a simmer. Turn the heat down if the mixture reaches a rapid boil or it could boil over. You just want a simmer. Add the cheese, and continue to simmer sauce for 8 minutes or until thick.
3. While sauce cooks, bring 4 to 6 quarts of water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook pasta for about 12 minutes or until done, then drain it.
4. Spoon pasta onto serving plates with Alfredo sauce poured over the top.

[kitchenelf]

Thanks nicole!! The only thing I see that I do different in mine is add probably a good 1/2 cup more of fresh grated Parmesan - It's a waiting game while the cream reduces - next time try a good solid cup of freshly grated Parmesan and see if that thickens up better.

Also, I use a pretty big skillet when I do mine to get a lot of the cream next to the heating surface. If you are using a sauce type pot versus a skillet you may need to heat the cream a lot longer - try a skillet the next time - more surface area heating at the same time will result in a quicker reduction.

Just a side note - when I make this for hubby he likes for me to add chopped sun dried tomatoes (in oil) and frozen petite peas towards the end of cooking. If I don't have peas he will add a good healthy dose of capers on top. It's also good with cheese tortellini - redundancy is sometimes good I know I'm rambling about this dish but sometimes we will also add sliced andouille and smoked scallops to this dish for another taste option.

[nicole]

Thanks kitchenelf. The thing with me if it doesn't come out right I will make it again until it does. thanks for the ideas. sun dried tomatos sound really dilish. I added broccoli at the end.

[AllenOK]

Something else you can do, and will also help in prepping the dish, is to cook the pasta before hand. Don't completely cook it. You want it still kind of hard in the center. Drain, cool, and toss with a little vegetable oil. Cover and store in the frige for up to a few days. To make the dish, start making your alfredo sauce (I like to saute the garlic and seasonings just a bit, about 30 seconds, before adding the cream). Add the cream, and bring to a boil. Start reducing the cream. When the cream starts to leave a sticky flim on the surface of the pan, add the cheese, and stir to melt and incorporate the cheese. Once the sauce is smooth, add the pasta and roll and toss the pasta until the sauce is good and thick. Plate and garnish.

If you want a really rich sauce, after the cream first reaches a boil, remove it from the heat, and while constantly whisking the sauce, add an egg yolk (or more, depending on your quantity). Once the sauce is smooth, return the sauce to a medium heat, add the cheese, and whisk until the cheese melts. Add the pasta and toss it good. Plate, garnish, and enjoy.

If you do the bit with the egg yolk, you might not want to use a really firm pasta. If you cook that sauce too much, it will really break on you.

[sherifffruitfly]

Originally Posted by AllenMI

Something else you can do, and will also help in prepping the dish...

One thing I've found to be awesome is to replace 1/2 the parm with bleu - yumyumyum

[[BMF] Chris]

the key to great alferdo sauce is simplicity, the less crap you have in there the better, i mean, you can get away with some garlic, but come on, it needs to be a good thick creamy sauce, it was degined to be blue collar, not to get all fancy with......